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Baptist Home sold

The upcoming new year will bring new ownership to the Baptist Home of Kenmare. The new owners will be introduced to the community this week.

12/14/11 (Wed)

Public invited tomeeting on Thursdayfor more details

The upcoming new year will bring new ownership to the Baptist Home of Kenmare. The new owners will be introduced to the community this week.

Dave Zwickey, President of American Baptist Homes of the Midwest (ABHM), announced his organization will sign an agreement to sell the Baptist Home of Kenmare to a North Dakota organization that operates assisted living, independent living and dementia care communities in Minot, Bismarck and Grand Forks.

The new owner will operate their Kenmare community under the name Kenmare Lakeview LLC.

Zwickey said, “We have been honored to serve the seniors of this area for over fifty years and are pleased to have identified a North Dakota buyer who will continue this tradition of caring for seniors. When we made the decision to sell, one of our goals was to seek a buyer who would maintain the jobs and services that the Baptist Home of Kenmare provides and with Kenmare Lakeview LLC we have found that buyer.”

Zwickey’s comments were confirmed by Gaylin Schmidt, spokesperson for the purchaser and one of the original developer/owners of their North Dakota communities, who added, “We are very pleased by the opportunity to expand our regional presence into Kenmare and continue providing quality services to seniors in that community.”

Karen Schwartz, administrator of the Baptist Home of Kenmare, said on Monday that she was notifying staff and residents about the transition. “I feel that this is a positive thing for us,” she said.

The doors to the Baptist Home will remain open and Schwartz believed operations would continue as usual. “Our day-to-day work ethic will stay the same,” she said.

According to Schwartz, no details had been released regarding staffing, wages, benefits, and licensing. Because of the current resident census at the Baptist Home, she believed all current employees would be given the option to continue working there.

Schwartz may also continue in her role as administrator. “They asked me if I was willing to stay on,” she said. “I said I was willing to listen to their options.”

Discussions about the sale have been taking place during the past few weeks. Schwartz estimated the transition wouldn’t actually take effect until some time in January 2012. She was most concerned about communicating the news, however, and she spent Monday contacting the Baptist Home staff, the residents and their families, various businesses and vendors, and health care providers about the coming changes.

The public is invited to attend an informational meeting about the sale scheduled for Thursday, December 14th, at 2:00 pm at The Baptist Home of Kenmare. At that time, the new owners and their team will be introduced as they discuss their plans for the future and answer questions.

An additional meeting specifically for staff members will be held later on Thursday.

Schwartz emphasized that more information about the sale would be available Thursday. Anyone with questions or concerns about the transition is welcome to attend the public session. “Come to the meeting on Thursday,” she said, “and find out the details like the rest of us.”